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2013

I was recently given a copy of a book by author, artist, musician, and fellow rebel John Voelz. The book was Quirky Leadership from Abingdon Press. I was intrigued by the title and, knowing JVo, I was looking forward to his particular slant on the broad subject of leadership.

In my previous life, I was a worship leader for about 24 years. And even though I was the guy that was brought in to “make us more contemporary” (read, “whipping big”), I’ve always held some of the classic hymns and songs of the faith close to my heart. Not only that, but there have been a couple of “old school” worship leaders that I have always looked up to and admired for their love for Jesus and music: Bill Gaither, Cliff Barrows, and George Beverly Shea.

I am getting ready to launch a series on the Gospel of Mark this Sunday. The series will last “a while.” What does “a while” mean? Well, we’re going to take it a chapter at time, then break off into something else, then come back to the book. I wanted to do it that way so that I could respond to other teaching needs in our church, while still working through a book in an expository manner.

In preparation for the study, I added to the graphic above (which you can download HERE) that I originally found on CreationSwap (you can download the original artwork for free HERE). We will also use the title package they used for the series which you can play below (or download from CreationSwap).

On a raised dais stood two men, both prisoners; both waiting for the final result of their trial.

But their final verdict on this day will not be decided by a court of law. It will be decided by the mob. For this day is the Day of the Passover Feast. And by tradition, the governor, also on the dais with these two prisoners, had a custom of releasing a prisoner to the people that day.

And while these two men had futures that were destined for the same destination, their pasts could not be more different. Although, in a way, you could say that their goal was the same: freedom for their people.Continue Reading…

I’ve been a pastor for the past 24 years – a youth pastor, a worship pastor, a combination of the two, even an interim pastor. But I’ve never been “that guy.”

There are some distinct differences that I’ve noticed in the past 3 months (I’m sure I’ll find a lot more as time goes on). For the sake of my friends who aren’t in a lead/senior pastor role, I thought I’d share my thought on the differences:Continue Reading…

While I am the lead pastor at Community Christian Fellowship, in Siloam Springs, AR, everything on this blog should be considered my personal opinion. Opinions, conclusions, or other information expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of CCF, my co-workers, or my staff. Don't blame them. This is all me.